Like Toy Soldiers
by Tsimiko
Summary: Duo knocked down some little green men standing on the table in front of him.


Author: Panthera  
Rating: PG – Duo has a dirty mouth  
Disclaimer: Not mine, though I would like to play with them, just for a little while! I promise to return them at some point. Also, the song belongs to Eminem, or whatever record company he's a part of. Also not mine, just borrowing!

_Step by step, heart to heart, left right left  
We all fall down  
Step by step, heart to heart, left right left,  
We all fall down  
Like toy soldiers_

Duo knocked down some little green men standing on the table in front of him. They had been found stuffed inside an old tin in a back closet of this decrepit hole they were currently staying in. Really, the place was archaic, at least by everyone else's standards. Duo had slept in worse, and the running water, which was actually hot if he got up early enough, made it better than a lot of places he'd been. The only problem was that this place had probably belonged to some old grandmother or grandfather, with their 80 cats. The back yard was full of weeds that wanted to reach out and latch onto your clothing, devouring you alive if you let them. There was no vid screen, game consoles, or anything like that. The most they'd found had been an old radio, which Heero had taken apart and hacked into OZ's frequency with, and a phone line, also taken by Heero for his laptop. How he got an ancient telephone line to hook up to the internet Duo didn't want to guess, and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask.

_Bit by bit torn apart  
We never win  
But the battle wages on  
For toy soldiers_

The last battle had gone…badly. It was just supposed to be an information gathering type thing, but what it ended up being was a mess. Go in, do a little hacking, get out, nobody's the wiser until they realize their computers are all displaying a little bouncing Deathscythes that laugh at them. And that wouldn't have been until Monday, the stupid 9-to-5 pencil pushers. But noooo, somebody had to go and work late on Saturday, making things difficult. It was my job to kill him, and I did, but not fast enough. The guy screamed, and the rent-a-cops around the place all swarmed over them. Heero'd gotten nicked in the arm in the resulting firefight, while I came away unscathed.

_I'm supposed to be the soldier  
Who never blows his composure  
Even though I hold the weight  
Of the whole world on my shoulders_

When they'd finally gotten back to the safe house, Heero had been livid, in that I'm-not-talking-to-you-even-though-I-never-do-anyway kind of way. Okay, so maybe that wasn't that great of a description, but he's ignored me more than usual. Wufei apparently heard what happened, and is mad at me too. Quatre thinks we should all get along, and Trowa just looks at me, never saying a word. I swear, in some alternate dimension he and Heero are twins. Or at least brothers.

_I ain't never suppose to show it  
My crew ain't suppose to know it  
Even if it means going  
Toe to toe with Benzino,_

But do I blow up at them? Scream my rage to their faces and say "Sorry I didn't kill him fast enough, but you didn't notice he was there until too late either"? Nope, I'm supposed to put on my joker's mask, bounce around playing tricks on people and bugging Wufei. Gotta admit though, he is fun to bug. Thankfully they all went out to buy supplies, and since town is so far away, they shouldn't be back for the rest of the day. That means I get a rest, even if it is spent knocking down toy soldiers.

_It don't matter  
I never drag 'em in battles  
That I can handle  
Less I absolutely have to_

So here's one more battle I'm going to lose. I'll let them think I don't care, that it doesn't hurt me, that they'll shove me in the middle, the baby spot for the next few missions. Until I prove myself again. But then I'll screw up again, I always do. I show my trust, wear my heart on my sleeve, and generally live by the seat of my pants. For a group of people who like to plan out what time they're going to take a dump for the next three days, they can't handle that.

_I'm suppose to be set an example,  
I need to be the leader  
My crew looks for me to guide 'em  
If some shit ever just pop off  
I'm suppose to be beside 'em_

I would plug my own laptop into the phone jack, but I don't feel like making it work, then explaining to Heero when he inevitably finds out why I unplugged his computer. There's not a chance in hell I'm trying to go through his passwords, if he ever found that out he wouldn't just kill me, he would make sure there was lots of torture in there too. Rather than stay in this empty house anymore, I'll go check on my buddy. He's been hidden beneath a tarp for the last couple days, and I figure a system check couldn't hurt. Although, trekking through the jungle like I am (even if Quatre tries to explain that this is just the country), I'm beginning to doubt that fact. Yes, a systems check could hurt. It would hurt me!

_That Ja shit,  
I tried to squash it,  
It was too late to stop it  
There's a certain line,  
You just don't cross it,  
And he crossed it. _

There's a message waiting for me when I reach him. It's from Doctor G, no date or anything, and the information will erase itself as soon as I close the window, but I have no intention of doing that, not right now. Some bastard went too far. Children, for christ's sake, _children_! That shit was supposed to stop when the Alliance died! But no, some OZ general had to take it upon himself to take over a town and crush the school. There were kids in there! It was a school day! Visions of Solo, Rat, Slip, and all the other gang kids flit through my head.

I'm death, I'm Shinigami, and I'm going to make those bastards pay.

Quickly running that systems check, everything comes through green. Fuel is full, ammo's all full, and the town is only an hour or two away as the crow flies. And the crows are going to be flying. Better get ready OZ, Shinigami is coming, and he's not happy. In fact, you could say he's down right pissed.

The rumble of engines firing fills the air, the silencers not worth it right now. This place is safe, they made sure of that. Now it's also time to make sure another place isn't safe, for OZ at least.

Back in the cabin, a few toy soldiers fall over.


End file.
